I'll Eat That

I eat kittens. You heard me. I eat kittens. Little ones are the tastiest. As they mature they tend to become stringy from all that jumping around. I love their little legs, their tenderloins, and their bellies which crisp up so nicely in a pan. I love to stew them, roast them, put them into pie. All I can think when I see a little kitten is: lunch!

If you haven't stopped reading in disgust already, allow me to explain a bit. Chef's, you see, generally eat anything. In a professional kitchen, everyone is required to taste every single thing that they cook, and I, as do most chefs, carry a spoon in my pack pocket just for this purpose. A side effect of all this tasting is that you are forced to try many things that you might normally pass on: brains and kidneys and tripe, for example. Add to this the fact that a good chef can make any of these items taste good, and you find, after a while, that there are few foodstuffs you aren't willing to eat.



The whole thing becomes a point of kitchen pride, where the appearance of some new, strange food item is met with a chorus of “I'll eat that!” Anyone unwilling to join in is considered somehow deficient.

Given the above, then, it will come as no surprise that I like the taste of kittens, or if you prefer “young rabbits.” Perhaps I should have clarified before...

In this case it is a young wild rabbit provided by a friend. It is quite small, and, once I've cleaned it up and broken it down, is only going to be enough to feed one or two people. I plan on using the hind legs only for this post, saving the rest of the animal for another meal.

If you have never tried rabbit before I highly recommend it. Farmed rabbits are widely available and their meat is relatively tender. They are great braised or slow roasted, but here I am going to confit the legs and then serve them, after crisping in a pan, on pomme sarladaise – potatoes sauteed in duck fat. The juxtaposition of crisp potatoes, soft, rich meat, and the cool, tangy dressing is nothing short of magical.

Confit Rabbit Legs with Pomme Sarledaise and a Seeded Mustard and Tarragon Sauce

2 rabbit legs
2 cups duck fat
confit salt (see below)

Weigh the legs. For every 500g of meat, you will need 3 tablespoons of confit salt. Place the rabbit into a nonreactive container just large enough to hold the legs. Sprinkle the salt evenly over both sides of the meat. Cover, and refrigerate for 12 hours.

Heat your oven to 150º C. Rinse the salt from the meat and pat dry. Gently melt the duck fat. Lay the legs flat in a baking dish or small pot and pour the fat over the top. Make sure the legs are completely submerged.

Cover with a lid or foil, and cook for at least 3 hours, and up to 6, until the meat is tender but not falling apart. Cool the legs in the fat. Refrigerate for up to a week. If you want to keep the legs longer (these get better with age) gently remove them from the warm fat, strain the fat into a tall container, allow any liquid to settle to the bottom, and pour the fat back over the meat, making sure to leave the liquid behind and that the legs are completely covered.

To serve, remove the legs from the cold fat. Heat the oven to 200º C. Melt a tablespoon of fat in a nonstick, oven-safe pan over low heat. Place the legs, skin side down, into the pan and heat gently. The aim here is to heat the meat through and crisp the surface, without breaking the soft meat up. When the meat begins to color, transfer the pan to the oven. Cook long enough to heat through – about 5 min.

Serve the confit rabbit on pomme sarladaise with a seeded mustard and tarragon vinaigrette (below). Toss a few bitter green leaves around the plate, as it will make you feel better about the fat-laden meal.



Pomme Sarledaise

4 waxy potatoes, kipflers are best
2 Tbsp duck fat
salt

Wash the potatoes but do not peel them. Boil the potatoes until they are just cooked through – you should be able to pierce them easily with a knife but they should not begin to split. Drain and cool slightly. Slice the potatoes into 1 cm disks.

Heat the duck fat in a pan on high heat. When it is quite hot, toss the potatoes in. Shake the pan gently periodically while the kipflers are cooking to prevent sticking. Cook on high heat, flipping the potatoes, until they brown and crisp. Season and drain on paper towels.

Seeded Mustard and Tarragon Sauce

2 Tbsp seeded mustard
2 Tbsp tarragon vinegar
2 Tbsp vegetable oil

Most vinaigrettes are usually 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. This one, however is equal parts, as we will be pairing it with the rich rabbit and fatty potatoes. The extra tang is sweet relief from the onslaught of duck fat.

Whisk together all the ingredients.

Confit Salt

This salt mix is so wonderfully aromatic when it is made. I make different confit salts for different meats, varying spices, herbs, even types of salt. This simple recipe is a good all-rounder though, and would be my choice if I were only allowed to use one confit salt recipe.

sea salt flakes
black peppercorns
thyme leaves

Put 1/3 of the salt, all the black peppercorns, and the thyme leaves into a spice grinder or mortar and pestal and process until they are quite fine. Mix this with the remainder of the salt flakes.